AZ Woman Helps Raise $120K For Walmart Worker

An Arizona woman, Elizabeth Rizzo, raised over $120,000 for an elderly Walmart employee. When Elizabeth first saw 82-year-old Carman Kelly, she wondered why she was still working at her age. After learning that Carman Kelly was working to pay off about $10,000 in medical debt and only had $50 in her bank account at the time, Rizzo made a TikTok video about her situation.

The video posted by Rizzo, who goes by @rustywarrenkockersupgal on TikTok, has since gone viral and has been viewed more than 15 million times. The GoFundMe fundraiser she created and shared with her followers has raised more than $129,000 for Kelly — surpassing the initial goal by thousands.

Elizabeth posted a second video where she told Kelly she raised about $5,000. “You’re their new grandma!” Rizzo said in the video as she told a shocked Kelly the news. “Will you be able to retire after this?” Rizzo asked. “I hope so!” Kelly responded. That’s when the donations continued to flood in. “With the second video, it just went crazy,” Rizzo says. “I was not planning this, I just felt moved to do this.”

Elizabeth said “I was surprised at the amount we were able to fundraise. I was really shocked, but I believe in the goodness of people and I believe if you touch their heart, in some way, they’ll come together.” Rizzo has kept Kelly updated throughout her fundraising efforts and the two have formed a close friendship.

In the final fundraiser reveal, Kelly tells Rizzo “There isn’t enough words to tell you how I feel. It isn’t just about me, it’s what the meaning of all this is and I really feel that. It’s about joy.”
Living only 20 minutes from each other, the two are now good friends and Rizzo says she sees Kelly as her own grandmother.